Evidence

Every experiment that is reported is evidence for Newtonian physics, Einstein's relativity, quantum mechanics, and neg-pos theory. I select a few experiments, and show how they can be interpreted to support a theory.

The light that is emitted by sodium atoms when they are heated in a flame can be viewed by spectrometer. Lines of several colors appear. Some lines are wider than others. The position of a line is determined by the frequency of the photons that fall on that line. The wide line is actually a series of lines. The difference in the position of lines is an indication of the difference between the frequencies of their photons. A difference can be as short as a difference of one cycle of frequency. This could mean that a photon is made of cycles. Thus a cycle can be the smallest fundamental particle of matter. More likely, a cycle can be a group of four bits of matter. Furthermore, a photon is an aggregate of bits of the same kind as the bits that are the matter of atoms.

It is a sealed glass tube with only helium inside, at very low pressure. It has 3 electrodes. One electrode is a filament, F, like the filament in a flashlight bulb. The second electrode, G, is a grid of fine wires, widely spaced. The third electrode, P, is a solid sheet of metal.

Battery A, of about 2 volts, lights the filament. The filament is coated with a compound, which has a weak hold on electrons. When the filament is hot, many electrons leave its surface. The space around the filament becomes crowded with electrons. The electrons in the space repel electrons which are about to leave the filament. There is an equilibrium, at which point, as many electrons return as leave.

The B battery has a voltage of about 45 volts. There is a resistance wire, R, of about 10,000 ohms, across the battery. The resistance wire acts as a voltage divider. The voltage across the ends of the resistor is 45 V. The voltage across half of the wire is 22.5 V. This can be read on the voltmeter, VM. The meter is connected between the negative end of the B battery and the sliding contact, S, of the voltage divider. The entire length of the resistance wire is 45 cm. If the resistor is fastened to a meter stick, with the negative end at the zero mark, each reading of the number of centimeters on the meter stick corresponds to the voltmeter reading of the voltage. When the sliding contact is at 20 cm, the voltmeter reading is 20 volts. This seems to make the voltmeter superfluous. But if there should be an unforseen rise in the current, through part of the voltage divider, the voltmeter makes the experimenter aware of it.

A wire leads from the sliding contact to the grid, G. The grid is positive relative to the filament. The positive grid attracts the electrons from the space around the filament.

Assume that the experiment starts with a setting of 10 V on the grid. Each electron accelerates to a kinetic energy of 10 ev, by the time it reaches the grid. The grid consists of widely spaced fine wires. Most of the electrons miss the wires as they reach the grid. They fly past the grid. Some electrons do strike the grid, and are conducted to the voltage divider, which carries the electrons to the positive end of the battery.

The function of the grid is to accelerate the electrons. The voltmeter supplies the information about the kinetic energy of each electron. The kinetic energy of each electron would be 10 ev, if it weren't for the helium in the tube. The density of the helium is very low. Not many electrons collide with helium atoms in the space between the filament and the grid. Those electrons that collide, may lose their way or lose some small amount of their energy.

The electrons that pass the grid continue to travel toward the plate, P, because of their momenta. The plate does not attract electrons strongly, because the electrons are beween the grid and the plate. The grid is slightly more positive than the plate. Electrons would go to the grid, rather than the plate, except for their momenta. The plate is maintained less positive than the grid, by the C battery, of about 3 volts. The electrons bump into the plate, and are conducted through milliammeter, MA, to the positive end of the B battery by way of a resistor, R. The milliammeter measures the plate current, which, in turn, can be translated into electrons per second.

The glass tube is made long enough to make it likely that every electron will bump into a helium atom, between the grid and the plate. Some electrons collide with more than one atom.

It is observed that current flows when the voltage is 10 v. The voltage is raised a little at a time, and a record is kept of the current at each voltage. The current increases steadily with the increase in voltage, until there is a sudden drop in the current at 19.75 v. At 19.79 v, the current starts to increase again. The current grows until 20.55 v. It drops sharply, and grows again as the voltage increase. There are similar drops in current at 21.2 v, 2.9 v, 23.6 v, etc. After the drop at 24.5 v , the current grows, and never drops again.

This is evidence for quantum theory. The current increases as the voltage grows fom 10 v, because the positive potential on the grid, attracts electrons away from the space charge near the filament. As the space charge moves off, more electrons leave the filament. As electrons leave the filament, they are replaced by electrons from the negative post of the B battery.

Helium is chosen because it is a single atom, not a molecule. A molecule can absorb energy as rotational or vibrational energy. An atom can absorb translational or electronic enegy. An electron is so much less massive than a helium nucleus, that the electron is incapable of transferring appreciable translational energy to the helium atom.

There remains the pair of electrons in the helium atom. When a free electron strikes a helium electron, energy can transfer from the free electron to the helium electron, but the helium electron can accept only the quantity of energy that raises it to a higher energy level. The helium atom has electonic energy levels at 19.75 ev, 20.55 ev, 21.2 ev, 22.9 ev, 23.6 ev, and others. It has no energy levels above 24.5 ev, because the electron which has an energy of 24.5 ev, escapes from the atom, and doesn't return.

The free electron that arrives with 10 ev, rebounds with 10 ev. It suffers a change in direction. Eventually it makes its way to either the grid or the plate. The fraction of the electrons that reaches the plate, supplies the current that passes through the milliammeter.

The current grows as the voltage grows, because more of the space charge is taken away from the vicinity of the filament, permitting more electrons to leave the filament. When the potential reaches 19.75 v, a helium electron accepts the energy of a free electron. This leaves the free electron completely devoid of translational kinetic energy. The free electron cannot remain at the helium atom, because of the exclusion principle. The free electron is ejected with a minimal kinetic energy. Since the grid is at a higer potential than the plate, the electron is slowly attracted to the grid. Therefore the plate gets very little current, when the energy of the free electron is equal to the difference between level one and another level of the helium atom. This is evidence for the existence of electronic energy levels, and for the inability of the electron in an atom to absorb intermediate quantities of energy. This evidence which is so good for quantum mechanics, is disastrous for Newton's physics. It also doesn't look good for neg-pos theory.

In Newton's physics, a moving electron collides with a stationary electron. The moving electron #1 stops dead, and the stationary electron #2 receives all of the kinetic energy of #1. Electron #2 moves off with the speed at whch #1 arrived. Electron #1 remains in the place vacated by #2.

A moving electron #3, colides with another moving electron #4. After the collision, both electrons are moving with new velocities. The sum of the energies of #3 plus #4 rmains the same as it was before the collision.

According to neg-pos theory, the helium electron can be in the position of zero energy. It can be stationary. A free electron, with an energy of 10 ev, collides with the stationary electron. All of the kinetic energy of the free electron transfes to the stationary electron . Thereafter, the helium electron oscillates. The free electron is repelled by the helium electrons. It moves off with hardly any energy. The free electron is in the field between the plate and the grid. It eventually gets to the grid, because the grid is more positive than the plate.

The same helium electron that received 10 ev from the first free electron is struck again by another free electron. This time both electrons start out with some energy. Both electrons have energy after the collision. The energy is divided in a new ratio, but the total energy is unchanged. The free electron moves off with enough energy to reach the plate, as easily as the grid. The helium electron oscillates with a new amplitude, higher or lower than its previous amplitude.

Almost every free electron , except the first one to find a resting helium electron, leaves a collision with sufficient energy to reach the plate as easily as the grid. It depends on whether it is moving in the proper direction.

By Newton's physics, coupled with neg-pos theory, I explain the results of the experiment. Just as neg-pos theory predicts, a helium electron can have intermediate energy less than the escape energy.

There are so few helium atoms in the tube, that each helium atom is struck twice or more by electrons, before it collides with another helium atom . When helium atoms collide, the electrons lose their oscillation. Their energy of vibration goes into the translational kinetic energy of the atoms. A helium atom with a vibrating electron collides with another helium atom . (Fig. 2)

The dot between the atoms is the vibrating electron. The other electrons are not shown.

1. The electron arrives at the point where the close-range repulsive force becomes effective. At this moment, the electron is oscillating toward helium B. The repulsive force against B is increased, because the momentum of the electron carries it deeper into the close-range region, where the field is stronger.

2. The electron is penetrating the close-range repulsive field of helium A, increasing the force against atom A. The electron oscillates at high enough frequency to go back and forth into both fields often enough to slow down to a halt. While the oscillation lasts, the net repulsive force betwen A and B is aided and abetted by the electron. When the atoms fly apart, their total energy includes the energy lost by the electron.

A more detailed account of the above appears in the essay on Heat Capacity,

The procedure in the experiment is to increase the energy of the free electrons gradually. When the energy is 19.75 ev, some of the free electrons collide with helium atoms that already have some energy.These electrons may arrive at the plate, eventually. Some of the free electrons collide with helium atoms that have just collided with other helium atoms. One, or both, of the helium electrons has zero energy. The free electron transfers all of its kinetic energy to the stationary helium electron. The helium electron oscillates with an energy of 19.75 ev, and, within 10-8 seconds, it emits a photon of about 19.75 ev in the ultraviolet range. The experimenter does not detect the ultraviolet radiation because the apparatus is not at hand, and the eye does not detect ultraviolet. (The glass of the tube may absorb ultraviolet at that frequency.) Immediately, the helium atom is back at zero energy. Meanwhile, other helium atoms are losing their vibrational energy in collisions. In short order, all of the helium atoms are at zero internal energy. Every electron with an energy of 19.75 ev that arrives thereafter, yields all of its energy to a stationary helium electron. The energy promptly departs with a photon. All of the free atoms return to the grid instead of reaching the plate.

This is in perfect conformity with neg-pos theory and Newton's physics.

When the electrons are gradually given higher energies, the helium electrons no longer emit photons. Intermediate energies are absorbed by the helium atoms. Free electrons collide with the electrons that are in vibrational motion. They rebound with sufficient enegy to reach the plate. When the energy reaches 20.55 ev, photons are emitted, and all of the helium atoms lose their internal energies, either by collision or radiation.

Any number of theories can conform to a set of observations. There isn't any single true theory. There are many self-consistent theories that fit the facts.

A vacuum tube, with a penny and a feather enclosed, is one meter long, and 6 cm in diameter. (Fig. 3)

When the tube is held upright, the penny and the feather are at the bottom. When the tube is inverted, the penny and the feather fall. to the opposite end of the tube, which is now at the bottom. The feather falls just as fast as the penny. Without the vacuum, the penny and the feather would fall at different rates, because the air supports the feather, and slows its downward progress.

The Newtonian explanation of the results of this experiment is that the feather and the coin have different quantities of matter. The measure of the quantity of matter is mass. There is a force of attraction between all bodies, according to their masses and the distance between them. It is a weak force. It takes the mass of the earth to make an object fall with an acceleration of 980 cm/sec2. In the laboratory, two masses of 103 grams each, can accelerate slowly toward each other. Although they lack mass, compared with the earth, they have proximity. In calculating the gravitational force, one uses the distance between the centers of the attracting bodies. The distance between the center of the earth and a falling body is about 4000 miles.

Using Newton's equation:

F = ma,

one can calculate the force of gravity on a falling body. Assume that the mass of a body is 1 gram. It accelerates at 980 cm/sec2. I substitute the values of mass and acceleration:

F = (1)(980)

F dynes = 980 dynes.

The experiment shows that bodies of different masses are accelerated at the same rate. I make the calculation of the force on a falling body of 1000 g mass:

F = ma

F = (1000)(980)

F dynes = 9.8 x 105 dynes

The larger the mass, the greater the force of gravity. Similarly, the larger the mass, the more force it takes to accelerate the body. This explains the equal acceleration of all bodies. What it does not explain is how a force can act at a distance.

Einstein's relativity shows that it is not necessary to have a force of gravity to explain the experiment. If the vacuum tube were at rest in outer space, the penny and the feather would float freely in the tube. If the tube were in a spaceship, going at a constant velocity, the coin and feather would stil float like that. If the spaceship accelerated at a constant rate, the coin and feather would float rearward. Inverting the tube would show the penny and the feather falling at the same rate. This is explained as follows:

The coin and the feather, when stationary, remain stationary until disturbed by an outside force. When the spaceship is moving at a constant velocity, the coin and the feather are moving at a constant velocity. They appear to float freely, because they have no motion relative to the space ship. Actually, they have a velocity which remains the same until some force acts on them. When the spaceship accelerates, the vacuum tube also accelerates. Meanwhile, the coin and feather continue at their old velocity. The rear end of the tube overtakes the coin and the feather. This has the appearance of the coin and feather falling rearward. When the tube is invered, the coin and the feather remain at a fixed velocity, but the tube is still accelerating. The rear end of the tube overtakes the coin and feather again. There is the appearance of falling again. The rule is: a gravitational field is indistinguishable from accelerated motion.

If the earth were expanding at an ever-increasing rate, that would account for the equal acceleration of all bodies that fall to the earth. Nobody entertains that idea for more than a moment. The resemblance between acceleration and gravity leads to another line of thinking. According to Einstein's relativity, a moving body has a slower clock, a reduced length in the direction of motion, and an increased mass. Transferring these ideas to the gravitational field, relativity finds a clock slightly slow in the weakest part of the field, slower where the field is moderate, and slowest where the field is strongest. There is a similar change in length according to position in the field. Mass, however, is greatest where the field is strongest.

According to relativity, a massive body, like the earth, or the sun, interacts with the space and time that surrounds it. The gravitaional field is real, as the space-time continuum is real. A falling body is accelerated by the space-time continuum. The space-time continuum is the same for all falling bodies, regardless of their mass.

In neg-pos theory, a neutron consists of nothing but neg-pos charge. A neutron is electrically neutral, in the sense that the negative charge is equal to the positive charge. A neutron is not neutral in the sense of having zero charge. A neutron does not have zero charge. It has a total charge equal to its neg plus its pos. Two neutrons interact. The neg of one repels the neg of the other. The pos of one neutron repels the pos of the other neutron. The attractive force is stronger than the repulsive force. Two neutrons in an empty universe accelerate towards each other.

The acceleration between two neutrons at 1 cm separation is 11.17 x 10-32 cm/sec. If the acceleration would not change as the neutrons get closer, it would take 4.23 x 1015 sec for the neutrons to be at zero separation (except for the close-range repulsive force and the nuclear binding force). Although the acceleration increases as the separation decreases, the calculated time is 2.43 x 1015 sec. I can't wait that long.

There is a wonderful site in which Robert L. Carroll introduces new theories. In a chapter which he calls Arcturus by Dawn he points out that neutrons and protons are made of the same stuff as positrons and electrons.

The experiment that is cited has a positron collide with an electron in a Betatron collider. The result is a proton and a neutron.

I take two spheres made of gold (because gold is very dense), weighing 10 pounds each. I place them on the table with a perfectly frictionless surface. I can measure the acceleration as they move toward each other. A gold sphere contains as many protons as electrons. The rest of its charge is all neg-pos. If a few stray electrons cause a shortage or an excess of negative charge, the difference is negligible on such large bodies. The important force in this experiment is the attractive force between all of the neg in one sphere, and all of the pos in the other, and vice versa. Opposing this force is the repulsive force between all of the pos of one sphere and all of the pos in the other sphere; and between all of the neg of one sphere and all of the neg of the other sphere. The attractive force is greater than the repulsive force by a small amount. The net force is gravitation.

I perform my calculation on the gold spheres and conclude that, if the spheres had zero volume, and were separated by one cm, it would take 47 sec for them to meet. A real gold sphere weighing ten pounds, has a volume of 235 cm3 and a radius of 3.83 cm. When the 2 ten pound spheres of gold touch each other, their centers are 7.66 cm apart. The separation between centers is the figure used in the calculations. If the experiment began with a separation of 20 cm, the spheres would touch in 4 hr,27min,22sec.

At 20 cm, the attractive electrostatic force between the opposite charges of the gold spheres is 1.43 x 1040 dyne. The repulsive force between the like charges of the gold spheres is 1.43 x 1040 dyne - 3.44 x 10-3 dyne. The difference between the attractive and repulsive forces is 3.44 x 10-3 dyne. The 3.44 x 10-3 dyne is usually called gravitational force, but it is really the net electrostatic force.

A gram of any material is weighed by putting it on a scale. The material has as much neg as pos, give or take a few electrons. The scale operates by measuring the force of gravity between the gram mass and the earth's mass. A force of 980 dyne is equivalent to a mass of 1 gram on a scale.

If I could accumulate a charge 0f 6.46 x 1010 electrons, it would repel an equal number of electrons with a force of 980 dyne at a separation of 1 cm. An aggregate of 6.46 x 1010 electrons is only 10-13 more, and has a mass of only 5.88 x 10-17 gram.

An electron , because it cannot attract another electron, has no gravitation relative to another electron. An electron has gravitational mass relative to amost everything else, because most things contain equal quantities of neg and pos. An electron has gravitational mass toward a proton, in addition to its electrostatic force, because the proton is mostly neg-pos. A neutron is entirely neg-pos. Every atom or molecule that is not ionized, has equal quantities of neg and pos.

Even though the electron has no gravitational mass relative to another electron, it continues to have inerial mass. The inertial mass is proportional to the charge of the electron. Since electrons are normally not alone in the universe with other electrons, the gravitational mass of the electron is also proportional to its charge.

Having more charge than a feather, the coin is more strongly attracted to the earth. The coin also has more inertia than the feather, and is harder to accelerate. The attraction and the inertia balance perfectly, so that every falling body has the same acceleration.

Incidentally, since the force of gravity is entirely due to electrostatic attraction, there is no longer a problem of trying to find a unified field theory.

For more than half a century, particle accelerators have been constructed. The newest models hurl protons against protons, or against anti-protons, with so much energy, that a whole new class of particles is observed. According to one interpretation, the particles are pieces of the protons. Another interpretation is that the additional energy that goes into accelerating the particles is converted into mass in the form of new particles. According to neg-pos, the accelerator mechanism is driven by electric current, or electric charges. These charges push the protons, and accelerate them. Charge transfers from the electrons in the wires of the accelerator. What one loses, the other gains, and the total is constant.

The more charge, mainly neg-pos, that the proton has, the harder it is to accelerate the proton. More charge is transferred to the proton, as it is accelerated further. With each addition of charge, the proton has more inertia. It become harder to accelerate. When the speed of the proton is close to the speed of light, the addition of charge hardly changes the speed at all. The energy of the proton keeps increasing as fast as the charge grows. Nevertheless, the speed never goes past the speed of light relative to the accelerator. However, I daresay that the speed of the protons relative to each other is close to twice the speed of light.

Acording to neg-pos theory, the new particles that appear from the collisions are composed of the excess neg-pos that accumulated on the protons during the acceleration. A proton can remain intact or become a neutron plus a positron. An anti-proton can become a neutron and an electron.

E = mC2 refers to the increase in mass of a moving body. It also indicates the quantity of mass that is associated with a quantity of energy. It is agreed that every quantity of energy has an accompanying quantity of mass. If that is true, then it cannot be true that a quantity of energy can turn into a quantity of mass. Nor can a quantity of mass turn into a quantity of energy. There is no such thing as energy without mass, or mass without energy.

One of the consequences of neg-pos theory is that bodies that are accelerated, to a greater degree, consist of more neg-pos than other bodies of the same species. The more the neg-pos, the more the inertia, and the harder it is to accelerate some more. There is a point of equilibrium , at which the transfer of energy cannot continue. This is not the kind of thing that depends on the location of the observer. The quantity of charge on a body is the same whether somebody is measuring it or not.

If I ride on one heavenly body that interacts with another heavenly body, in a near miss, one of the bodies accelerates, and the other decelerates. It is not just a matter of my observing that the other body approaches, and then recedes. Ignoring all other obsrvations, I can discover the change in the quantity of charge of everything on my planet. If we gained charge, we were accelerated. If we lost charge, we were decelerated. As to the other body, whatever we gained, they lost, and vice versa.

This opinion is in contrast to the notion that it is just as valid to say that the car is standing still and the scenery is moving, as to say that the scenery is standing still and the car is moving. I can tell by the energy of the reaction of the fuel and oxygen whether it can move a car at 50 mph or move the earth at 50 mph. For things that move at much greater speeds, their absolute velocity can be determined by their quantity of charge.

To return to the colliding accelerated particles, often, the colliding particles remain intact, but are slightly modified, and a whole menagerie of new particles appear in addition. The new particles are composed of the charge that had accumulated on the accelerated particles as they gained energy. Among the new particles are mesons. Some mesons have slightly more mass than an electron. Other mesons have nearly half the mass of a proton.

There were some experiments with mesons. From the observations, a thought experiment was constructed. Many of the experiments in these essays are thought experiments, because it is either too difficult or impossible to perform them. This particular experiment used mesons that disintegrate in less than a millionth of a second. If one starts with a thousand mesons, 500 remain after 1.4 x 10-8 sec. Then the time 1.4 x 10-8 sec is known as the half life of these mesons.

A batch of mesons is accelerated to 99% of the speed of light. At 2.968 x 1010 cm/sec, a particle could travel 415.5 cm in 1.4 x 10-8 sec. It is observed in this thought experiment, that 500 mesons in a batch of 1000 arrive intact after a trip of 2908.5 cm. To travel 2908.5 cm at 99% of the speed of light, takes 9.8 x 10-8 sec. Evidently, by moving at close to the speed of light, the mesons extend their lives to 7 times their usual span.

According to Einstein's relativity, the half life of a meson is an immutable law of nature. Therefore, instead of extending the life of the meson, the high speed slowed the meson's clock. The half life remained 1.4 x 10-8 sec, but the reading was taken on a slow clock. While the meson's clock advanced 1.4 x 10-8 sec, the laboratory clock advanced 9.8 x 10-8 sec.

According to neg-pos theory, the meson at rest has 9.6 x 10-8 esu of charge, most of it neg-pos, This meson has a net neg charge of one electron, 4.8 x 10-10 esu. The meson that moves at 99% the speed of light, has 7 times as much total charge, 6.72 x 10-7 esu as the resting charge, 9.6 x 10-8 esu. In order for a meson of 7 times the charge to break apart, it takes 7 times as long. It is not the clock that is slow, but the disintegration process.

I make no comment on the validity or lack of validity of this experiment. I merely want to offer an alternative to the theory that time is different for bodies in motion. I especially object to getting physical results from an alteration in the rate of time. The behavior of charge is the source of our notions of time. Time is entirely abstract. Time does not make anything happen.

The evidence for the choice of 30 centimeters for the length of a photon comes from something practical. To improve the connection between computers, fiber optics has been introduced. The digital signal is converted to a burst of photons that are in step. The burst is produced in a laser.

It has long been the ambition of the laser manufacturers to shorten the interval between bursts. They found that they would never be able to get more than a billion bursts per second. This became known as the gigahertz barrier.
The new unit, the gigahertz is used, because in different countries a billion could have nine zeroes or twelve zeroes. The giga stands for nine zeroes.

The time interval between bursts depends on how long it takes to emit a photon. It takes one billionth of a second (with nine zeroes) for a photon to be emitted. Therefore, the front end of a photon travels 30 centimeters before the rear end leaves the source. A photon is therefore 30 centimeters long. (The speed of light is 3 x 1010 centimeters per second.)

Since the above paragraph was posted, there have been more pieces of evidence. The lasers that are built into a computer are much shorter than 30 centimeters. Each photon of that laser beam must rebound many times. If an electron of the laser is triggered to emit a photon by a passing photon, there must be a tiny time interval between the stimulus and the emission of the leading cycle of the new photon. Therefore the beam is tantamount to continuous radiation. The only stringent requirement is that the photons be synchronus. That being the case, the interval between pulses in the laser signal can be reduced to a small fraction of a billionth of a second. So what is it evidence of? It shows that a photon can be fragmented and that the bits that constitute a photon are small enough to fit four in a cycle of radiation.